Morocco

High on its status as one of the few African States that got an FTA with Washington, and aware of the country’s pivotal position between the US and the EU (with whom it also has a privileged trade relationship through an FTA), the government of Morocco is somewhat bullish about FTAs and its own role in promoting them in Africa and the Arab world.

Apart from the US and the EU, it has signed deals with the EFTA group, Mercosur, Turkey and the UAE. Regionally, it is an active party to the Agadir Agreement as well as GAFTA. The kingdom is negotiating a new deal with Singapore and Mauritania and may start talks with Vietnam. It also secured a significant trade and investment deal with the West African Monetary Union — where Morocco-based corporations plan to expand and invest in banking, telecommunications and other sectors — in late November 2008. A recently signed agricultural free trade agreement with the EU has been opposed by small farmers in Europe and human rights organizations who charge that the deal promotes the exploitation of the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

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